


i will hold on to you

by catching_paper_moons



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 06:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13001868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catching_paper_moons/pseuds/catching_paper_moons
Summary: “Didn’t you know we’re rivals?” Nico asks. “I heard that from a teammate. I’m not supposed to like you, or something.”“Or something,” Nolan parrots, turning around to look at Nico. “And what’s the verdict? Am I cool enough for you?”





	i will hold on to you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stonesnuggler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stonesnuggler/gifts).



> sometimes someone makes you feel some sort of way. so this happened. 
> 
> thanks to tasha for reading through my v late night ramblings and letting me know if it made sense.
> 
> title from Taylor Swift's "New Year's Day"

“Hi,” the boy with really good eyebrows says. His name’s Nico Hischier. 

“Hi,” Nolan says back. It’s a little uncomfortable, but not bad uncomfortable. Just weird.

The people running this event make them pose together. Nolan barely knows the guy. He cracks a joke, though, in a bit of broken English, and it makes Nolan laugh ‘til he cries, so much that they have to take five. Nolan likes this guy.

They keep on having to take five for one or both of them to get themselves together. It’s the most fun Nolan’s had in a long time.

  
  


Nico texts him, and the conversation starts off just a little stilted. They’re supposedly rivals, after all.

_ hey its nico _

Hey dude! Saw your snap earlier, it was hilarious

_ yeah? :D Im glad you found it funny _

Nolan thinks maybe Nico’s just trying to be a good guy. The fact that he uses that specific smiley is something Nolan finds entirely too endearing. And he maybe thinks Nico’s cute anyway, so. He texts back.

You wanna hear a dumb story about Stels

_ would I ever haha _

Nolan smiles. He thinks they’ll get along just fine.

  
  


“Hey, roomie,” Nico says, flopping back onto a bed, eyebrows waggling. Nolan laughs loudly.

“Hey, didn’t know they put us together this week.” He lets his suitcase fall to the ground, and he kneels to open it.

“Didn’t you know we’re  _ rivals _ ?” Nico asks gleefully. He sounds like he’s conspiring. “I heard that from a teammate. I’m not supposed to like you, or something.”

“Or something,” Nolan parrots, turning around to look at Nico. “And what’s the verdict? Am I cool enough for you?” 

This time it’s Nico’s turn to laugh. Nolan thinks it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard, rich and warm. It reminds him of his grandma’s cookies. Nico says something, but Nolan misses it because, well,  _ shit, _ this dude’s everything he’s ever wanted and more which like. Was not what Nolan was expecting from the NHL combine. 

“Sorry, what?” Nolan says, and Nico frowns. He looks like an angry kitten, which tilts Nolan’s axis even more. 

“I said,” Nico pauses dramatically, haughtily, and Nolan rolls his eyes, laughing. “Of course you are. I do really like spending time with you.” His voice is sincere, in the end, because of course it is. His eyes crinkle when he smiles, and Nolan just. Yeah. 

It’s like. They’re spending so much time together that flirting just feels natural to them. And Nolan doesn’t fall in love quickly or easily but he thinks maybe he could love Nico. Not someone like Nico, just Nico. He’s too careful with his heart otherwise.

  
  


“Dude, dude, come look at this,” Nolan says, pointing to the glass bean in the middle of Millennium Park.

“Yo.” Nico eyes widen, face admiring. “It’s a mirror. Why is it a mirror? What’s the point?”

Nolan snorts. “It’s  _ modern art, _ Hisch, what did you expect? An explanation laid out right in front of you?” Nico pouts, which makes Nolan laugh harder. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Nico smile softly, clearly not meant for Nolan but directed at him. Nico grabs his wrist, pulling him toward the Bean.

“Selfie time,” he says, whipping out his phone.

“Such a tourist,” Nolan teases, and Nico hip-checks him gently, smiling at him in that way that his eyes crinkle and his entire face lights up. Nolan wonders, not for the first time, if Nico’s an angel. 

“Smile!” And suddenly, Nico’s taking the picture, and Nolan’s face looks absolutely ridiculous, and Nico’s face lights up with absolute glee. “You look  _ awful _ !” 

“Hey!” Nolan grabs for Nico’s phone, but Nico just keeps laughing. “Please don’t post that.” 

Nico laughs again. “I won’t!” he promises, entirely sincere. “Here, we can take another one. Serious faces first.” They look dumb, but Nico promises to send him both of the selfies they took.

Nolan stares and smiles at them a little too long that night.

 

Watching the hype that surrounds the first round of the draft is surreal, and Nolan already knows he’s not going first, despite what everyone’s said. Nico’s just better, that’s all there is to it. Nolan’s not bitter. Truly.

His sisters try to distract him as they sit and wait for New Jersey to take the stage, and his stomach fills with butterflies; not for him, for Nico. He hopes New Jersey does the right thing. He’s not religious, but if he was he might even pray for it.

He gets up to hug Nico, ignoring pointed looks from Aimee, and tells Nico congratulations. It’s not a tight, all-encompassing hug, just one he’d give to a friend in passing, but he thinks Nico appreciates it all the same. He watches intently; Nico still looks nervous, maybe he’ll try and look less nervous. Nico just hands his suit jacket to Gary Bettman; power move, but not one Nolan wants to try. Nico finally, truly smiles when he thinks the cameras are on Philly’s table, and he lets the moment soak in. Nolan’s never seen a sight so beautiful.

Nolan’s also in love with him.

That realization almost pushes him over the edge, into straight panic, but then he hears, “From the Brandon Wheat Kings…” and realizes he should try and stand. His sisters hug him, he thinks his mom could be crying, but he’s not sure, his dad and his uncle tell him how proud they are, and he puts all of his energy into getting rid of his resting bitch face and looking more than just mildly pleased to have been selected second overall. 

He meets a shit ton of people, takes a shit ton of photos, and then he’s finally released, and waits for his family in a hallway somewhere in the United Center, and then he’s being tackled. 

“Hi,” the body squeezing him half to death says. He places the voice as Nico’s. “How’s it feel?”

“Relieving?” Nolan deadpans, and Nico throws his head back in laughter. “What about you, Mr. First Over All? How’s it feel to be the king?” 

“Kinda feels like it should’ve been you,” Nico shrugs, humble. “But I’m. I’m really very pleased, I think.” 

“Hey, none of that media answer bullshit,” Nolan says. “Give me the real answer. How’s it feel?”

“Fucking incredible,” Nico says, smiling, and Nolan nods, grinning back. 

“Doesn’t it just?” He slides down to the floor, back against the wall, and Nico follows suit, leaning slightly into him. They talk for what feels like hours, until Nico’s parents walk up, Nolan’s parents following quickly behind, and they’re whisked away again. Nolan misses the warmth Nico brought him.

 

In a facetime call in early August, Nico says he found a poutine place that made him think of Nolan. Nolan’s so glad the call is just an audio call so Nico can’t see his face turn bright red. He’s almost positive he can see exactly what Nico’s smile looks like, a smirk and a real smile mixed together, knowing exactly the reaction he’s causing. Nolan’s definitely in love with him.

  
  


_ hey you awake? _

Yeah, what’s up?

_ Im outside ur hotel _

Dude what.

_ can you come down people are staring _

Nolan takes the stairs two at a time and practically runs into Nico in the lobby of the hotel. “Are you okay?” he asks, and Nico sighs. “Here, come upstairs. Let’s talk.” The elevator ride is silent, and they’re almost at Nolan’s floor when Nico mumbles something. “What? Sorry, I missed that.”

“I said,” Nico pauses, but it’s not dramatic, it’s nervous, filled with tension and anxiety and hope all wrapped up in a neat little bow. The doors open and they step out of the elevator. “I’m. um.”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Nolan says, swiping into his room. The door closes and he sits on a bed, patting the space next to him.

“I am in love with you,” Nico blurts out, too fast, and then his eyes widen, almost as if he didn’t mean to say it. Nolan’s jaw drops, eyes tracking every movement on Nico’s face. “Um. I’m not. Like.”

“Are...you joking?” Nolan asks, and Nico furrows his brows. “Just, because like, if you are that’s not funny, but like I’m in love with you too so I’m willing to overlook it.” Nolan clamps his mouth shut, and it’s Nico’s turn to be shocked.

“Just. One second,” Nico says, and he walks into the bathroom and shuts the door. Nolan waits on the bed, heart about to pound out of his chest, and he feels like maybe he made a mistake, but then Nico is walking toward him and cupping his face and kissing him.

And it’s like coming home.

  
  


Nolan wakes up with Nico pressed against his back, and he wonders whether he’s dreaming.

“You’re not,” Nico mumbles into his shoulder blade, pressing a kiss there. “It’s very real.”

Nolan rolls over to face him, and everything he wants to say, everything he knows they should talk about dies when he sees Nico’s face staring back at him. All he can say is, “Oh.”

“Hi,” Nico says back. He kisses Nolan, and Nolan feels half of his worries melt away. “We can take this as slow as you want.”

“Okay,” Nolan says. “I mean. I’ve known for a while that I love you. I just don’t. Relationships and I are hard.”

“That’s okay,” Nico says. “I’m here for all of that.” Nolan wants to cry, so instead he kisses him and kisses him and kisses him ‘til he can’t remember his own name anymore.

  
  


“Hey,” Nico says as Nolan walks into his kitchen. He’s holding two mugs of coffee, and he hands Nolan one. “Good morning.”

“Hey,” Nolan says back, taking a sip gratefully. He looks at the mess surrounding them and grimaces. “You wanna help me clean this up?”

“Yeah,” Nico laughs. “The boys left it a mess.” He sets his coffee down, picking up an empty can off the table and throwing it in the trash. He and Nolan work in silence, moving around each other like it’s the most familiar of dances. Nico trips a little over his own feet, making Nolan laugh harder than it shoulder. “Hey,” Nico protests, eyes crinkling.

“Hey,” Nolan says, leaning in to kiss him. It’s the most comfortable he’s ever been.


End file.
